Page 20 of Stained
“Even at twenty-eight?”
“Even at seventy, probably.”
“Somehow, that doesn’t make me feel better.”
“So jump headfirst into it.” Candice shrugged. “I’ll be here when you crash and burn.”
“Thanks.” Alicia leaned forward, halfway off the couch, but not committing to getting up. Where would she go, anyway? Her bedroom to take a nap? Pshaw. “Although you seem to have this inflated sense that I’m going to see her again. She’s probably done with me now. Got me out of her system really good.” She finally managed to smile. “Why do you think I hopped into it a second time so readily? Might have been my last chance!”
Candice had a knowing look, the kind she imparted whenever she dangled her years of emotional life experience over Alicia. “People like that don’t get over women so easily. I might agree if it had only been the one time. A second? She’s going to ask you out. Just you wait.”
“Ask me out to what? Become her side-honey?”
“What if she does? Will you say no?”
“That would probably be a good idea. The sex may be nice to have in my life, but I don’t get the sense it would end well for me any other way. She’ll get rid of me the moment she finds someone else who strikes her fancy.”
Candice sat back in a ponderous position. “Be that as it may, you could totally milk the situation for all it’s worth should it present itself.”
“What do you mean?”
A hand tipped in blood-red nails patted Alicia’s knee. “If she comes looking for a sugar baby? Give the woman a sugar baby… and by give, I mean make her pay for it.”
Alicia’s mouth dropped open. “I couldn’t…”
“Girl, unless you get a job in the meantime, what are you going to do about rent? Think about that.”
“I’m looking for a job!”
“I know you are, but you also know how hard it is to get jobs in our industry right now. I keep putting my feelers out for you, but that Midnight job was the first real one I had in a while. To be frank, you botched it.”
“I know!”
“So make the woman who made you lose your job pay for it. Think of it as getting a sweet severance package. Including a sweeter pussy.”
Candice was ruthless. Alicia knew she needed such a person in her life, but sometimes the things she said were too much!
Still. Food for thought. Not that Alicia had much hope that either Ms. Moreau or Ms. Clayborn would come knocking on her door again. No. She wouldn’t count on it. Best to pick up the phone and start trolling Craigslist for job openings again. She had a better chance at getting a hosting position in a family Mexican restaurant than she did of ever seeing Danica again.
Alicia spent the rest of her day either searching for jobs or listening to Candice give her plenty of “advice” on how she should milk Danica of more of her attention. “At least charge her a fee for your beautiful presence. She’s a rich bitch. What does she care if you charge five hundred bucks a pop? What? Why are you offended? Five hundred is respectable! Fine, fine, go for a few grand if you think you can get it, honey! Shut up! I’m not a pimp!”
Alicia came out of that day with one promise to herself: follow her gut. Right now, her gut told her to email the owner of a Chinese-American restaurant and get herself a damn job.
Chapter 7
This was it. This was 2018 all over again.
“Welcome to Blue Bird. How many people are in your party?” The family burger joint was packed with people. Kids screamed in front of a blackboard, scratching chalk all over the floor and the chairs, too. Their parents sighed, yawned, or bugged Alicia for more balloons because little Johnny and Harriet kept popping those.I know. I have a heart attack every time, thanks.
POP!
Alicia shrieked at her podium, dropping a pen onto the floor. The man standing in khaki shorts and a striped shirt rolled his eyes as he told her for the third time, “Party of four!”
“Yes, okay…” She took a deep breath before penciling the number into her chart. “Can I get a name for that?”
“Brumhild.”
“Brumhilda?”
